Portugal – Lisbon (En)

Last Wednesday we took the train from Sintra to Lisbon, 35 minutes. Lisbon is the stunning capital city of Portugal and is one of the most charismatic and vibrant cities in Europe. It is a city that blends traditional heritage with striking modernism and progressive thinking. We took the train to the Rossio station in the centre of Lisboa. The station is an amazing building and is next to the Rossio and Restauradores squares. We went first to the Rossio square which is dominated by the National Theatre and has many typical restaurants and bakeries. Then we went to the Restauradores square where is a huge obelisk commemorating the resto. From there we went to the Commercial square with the Statue of Jose I in the centre of the square and we walked around the Baxia full of restaurants and shops.

Then we went to see the Lisbon Cathedral also known as the Sé. It is the Lisbon archbishop’s headquarters and its aesthetic is different: it has been submitted to numerous alterations adding romantic, rococo, gothic and baroque elements. Anyway with more than 1000 years and many earthquakes is amazing that still stands. From there we walked to the Alfama on the East side of Lisbon on the top of a hill where is the San Jorge Castle. The Alfama is famous for its many lookouts, the most famous is the Santa Lucia lookout, which combines stunning views with a walkway of very Portuguese tiles.

We did not go inside the Castle because the queue was huge and we were really tired and hungry, so we went back to the Commercial square to have lunch in one of the restaurants. Our Portuguese friend Paulo is from Lisbon and he recommended that we try the typical dish called Bitoque, just 7 euros! The bitoque is pork or beef steak, fried or grilled with rice and chips and a fried egg on top. Ben had a beef bitoque and I had pork with clams in the Alentejo way, which is pork and clams with olives, onions and cauliflower in a delicious salsa. Ben ate half of my dish also and he liked it more, hahaha. I recommend it as it is pretty yummy.

After lunch, we went to see the Ruins of the do Carmo Convent and Santa Justa Lift. The convent is just ruined due to the Lisbon earthquake and from the lift, you have spectacular views of the city. On the top of the lift, there is the house of the cod cakes and we took one to try later for dinner, it is stuffed with melted cheese!

Then we went to see Chiado and the Barrio Alto. The first one is very commercial and picturesque and the second is more alternative with street art and good vibes. We arrived at the Luis de Camoes square which separates Chiado from Barrio Alto, we walked first to the Barrio Alto streets and then we went down to Chiado.

Exhausted as we walked all the way up to the Barrio Alto instead to take the famous 28 tram, Ben really wanted to take the tram but it was always full, we decided to go back to Rossio station and take the train back to Sintra. We couldn’t see all of Lisbon in one day but we saw a lot! We arrived back at the motorhome and had our cod cake for dinner.

We really recommend visiting Lisbon, one of the best cities in the world and pass a few days visiting it. Yesterday Thursday we arrived at the Alentejo coast and we are in a little town called Porto Covo on the west coast where you can see Pessegueiro Island, and all this in the next post!